Job Hunt
by Axisor
Summary: Heero is bored w/ life a life w/o war-- he has limited purpose now in his life... and limited pay-- the job Hunt begins for the desprate soldier and proves to travel some _VERY_ different paths... R&R&E! :þ
1. Chapter 1

Job Hunt  
By: Axisor  
  
Yes. I know. I'm insane to start another series, but I'm attempting to work my way up to "Institutionalize-able" so I can be institutionalized and then devote all my time to writing and send school stuff to heck--see? Even the insane have some sort of logic.  
  
Okay, this is a story I started with a bunch of e-pals but none of them seem to have picked up and continued-so a note to them--**IF YOU STILL WANT TO WORK ON IT, YOU CAN ON _The_Site_ (you know the one I mean)**-- and to the rest of you, I couldn't just leave this story laying in the dust, especially when I had my own ideas as to where it could go.  
  
Okay, more at the end, but I don't own anything mentioned in this story, except, off course, the story. The characters are being borrowed.  
  
*********************************************  
Heero woke up with a "gosh awful" headache. "Knew I shouldn't have eaten Duo's cooking," he grumbled. As he got up to get dressed he ruefully added, "If we gave that to Oz instead of bullets the war would have ended sooner," allowing himself an OOC moment of humor since no one was there to witness it.  
  
It was a few years after Barton Foundation and everything. All the Gundam pilots were 20, except Trowa who was 22 and Zechs (if you count him a G-pilot) who was 24. Heero had lost contact with most of them. He had worked with Wufei for 2 years in the Preventers but nothing exciting had happened during those years. The most action he saw was creating anti-virus programs for viruses that "mysteriously appeared" in the system. This would have been fun for him except most of the time he was the creator of the virus because he was bored and made it. Eventually, people were becoming suspicious and Heero was becoming even more bored, so he resigned his commission.  
  
Duo had insisted on having Heero live and work with him at the scrap metal business Duo owned. It was a good thing Heero went along with this plan. He got a new enemy out of the deal--Bankruptcy. After 2 years of Heero managing his books, Duo understood how to manage them himself and was opening 2 more Maxwell Scrap-Heaps on 2 other L-2 colonies. Now Heeero wasn't needed anymore. He was becoming restless again. Heero gave his 2 weeks notice and Duo made him a "special farewell dinner," the meal Heero just woke up from.  
  
"Now I can either apply to the police academy, act 'dumb' since I can't explain how I already know more about their jobs than they do, and pass at the head of my class," Heero said as he made his way out the door. "Or become an assassin again, though there isn't much of a job market anymore and I'd more than likely end up shooting my friends, or institute my own rebel group for some action...."   
  
Mr. Yuy made his way down to the local police academy to explore option A. The uniformed officers in the lobby took one look at his "uniform" of green tank top, black pants, and uncombed hair and tensed up (at least he gave up spandex... now it's just black pants-heck... could even be black jeans). Their "punk alert" had kicked in. Heero was unfazed, however, and just approached the front desk.  
  
"I'd like to take the final police exam." He pretty much ordered. *Why bother with wasting money on training me when I'm already trained?* was his philosophy. Everyone laughed.  
  
"What makes you think we should?" the desk clerk asked.  
  
"I'm already overqualified for the job. I was overqualified when I was 12. Give me the test." He said in his monotone voice, being humble.  
  
Some officers laughed, others were seriously offended and wanted to pound the punk. Heero would have loved it if they had pounded him; it would at least had been some action. "And what makes you think that?" the clerk said seriously.  
  
"Classified." He said just as seriously. The clerk gave the ultimate look of skepticism. Heero shrugged, leaned forward, and whispered, "I'm a Gundam pilot."   
  
That made the clerk even crack up, and he had managed to keep a straight face through everything else. "You hear that boys? This punk says he's a Gundam pilot! Ha-Ha-Ha! Talk about a dreamer!"  
  
Then someone else yelled, "Tell me this, boy, why would a great famed Gundam pilot want to be a lowly cop? Why not settle down and make college graduation speeches for a living or something like that? No boy... you have to be lying! No way a pilot would want to be a cop!! Ha-Ha-Ha!!!!"   
  
By this time other people were shouting out suggestions ("Maybe he should found a colony!" "Why bother with being an officer-skip right to captain!" "I'd love to see his references") and making rude jokes at Heero. By this time, the lovable 'not-a-Pacifist' Heero was just itching to "act on his emotions" and used his gun to blast the hats and holsters off of everyone in the room in less time than it took for them to even realize he had drawn.  
  
All the officers face-faulted as Heero put his gun back where it had come from and walked out. Heero grabbed one of the registration forms, looked at it, and dumped it on his way out. He tipped his hand in respect to the humiliated officers as he turned around and left. "Bly-me! You recun' he could have been a Gundam pilot for real?"  
  
"If he is... the job market must be REAL bad for a hero like that to be looking for a job like this!" The clerk answered, "Maybe we should have let him take the test... talk about bringing an honor to the department! I wish him luck, though... I think he'll need it..."  
  
And so our hero, Heero, goes off in search of another job. The Perfect Soldier's new mission has begun: Find a good job in the sparse job-market for ex-soldiers.  
  
*********************************************  
Okay, so I hope you enjoyed this. I will promise to not let this story get in the way of Rosati-Kain, but I make no promises... wait... um... okay, correction--I will attempt to not let it get in the way. Please R&R! I will work no more if I get no feedback (HA! That's a joke... since I already have half the next chapter of this and the next chapter of RK already done... I made use of long plane and bus rides!)  
  
Axisor  
:þ  



	2. Chapter 2

I will not kill the computer....  
I will NOT kill the computer....  
I WILL NOT kill the computer....  
I.....WILL.....NOT...KILL...THE....COMPUTER!  
_I_WILL_NOT_KILL_THE_~*COMPUTER*~_~*!*~_  
  
okay--enough already? Or is it why won't I kill the computer? Well, here's the answer-it ATE all my fanfiction files! ALL OF THEM!!!! Including the original version of this chapter of Job Hunt so bear with me, please?  
  
Job Hunt--Chapter 2  
By Axisor  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC's, k?  
  
***************************************  
Heero walked down the street, pondering his problem. He was even tempted to take the standing offer to go back to the Preventers. Actually, he was pondering this very option when he walked past an electronics store. With that being filled with electronics, and this being Heero, he, of course, entered-- and had an idea of applying to work _there_.  
  
"So what can you do?" the owner asked Heero after he filled out the form.  
  
"Well, I can fix just about anything with an electronic ship in it and know the ins and outs of some of the most high-tech gadgets," he replied, making eyes at the back of the shop where all sorts of broken appliances laid with their "guts" exposed and wires hanging everywhere. There was enough work there to keep him employed for at least a couple of months.  
  
"You talk big, but your references don't agree. All you have listed here is 'Maxwell Scrap-heaps--Accountant and General Employee' and 'military work.' These aren't very clear references. Without more specifics and maybe some sort of proof of the claims--like a college degree..."  
  
"What if I told you that in the military I worked very closely with the mechs and was in a position where I was even able to take apart several mobile dolls? They trusted my skills greatly, but I can't tell you anymore than that. It's still classified," Heero added with a touch of pride in his otherwise monotone voice.  
  
"I don't care if you were one of those blasted, lousy Gundam pilots as long as you can do what you claim," the owner replied, actually honestly attempting to hide his prejudice, though he never could believe a pilot of a Gundam would ever want to work in his hole-in-the-wall shop. "If you show me that somewhere you learned what you promised--you're hired...."   
  
"Fine. What's the pay and when do I start?" Heero asked while wringing his hands beneath the counter top with anticipation.  
  
"You can start right now, to show me you can do what you promise; then--if you can do what you say--I'll pay you what I think your work is worth, since obviously you are non-union."  
  
Heero didn't like the sound of that, but he needed work-and some semi--credible references. So without receiving any objections from Mr. Yuy, the prospective employer led the self-proclaimed electronic-guru to the back and set him up with a tool set, workbench, and a toaster that had driven off two people already--and told him that, too.  
  
Heero was undaunted. He took a look at it, unscrewed the cover, and dove in. The shop owner, Slick "Fix-it" Voltick, tried to tell "the boy" all that he and the other two and done, but before he could really get into it, "the boy" re-covered the toaster and scooted it to the side.  
  
"You give up already?" he said with little surprise.  
  
"No. It's done." Heero said plainly. "Someone had the right idea of replacing a set of wires after butter shorted them out, but reattached them wrong." He grabbed a busted old laptop as he continued his remarks in an unusually chatty mood, "Whoever the 'genius' was obviously didn't think to diagram the wires. However, I've seen the configuration before. Duo would always bringing stuff like that home for me to fiddle with and he'd sell it for some extra money for the Heap."  
  
Don't be fooled; Heero knew exactly who the 'genius' was. Slick.  
  
Slick narrowed his eyes as he glared at the back of Heero's head, "Don't be so sure that was the only problem." Before Heero could say anything, the toaster was plugged in with bread pressed down; Slick had decided to take this 'peacock' down a number of pegs. When the toaster popped just a short time later, Heero was declared a failure since the bread didn't stay down as long as it should have.  
  
Heero didn't even look up from repairing the laptop. "Look at the evidence before giving the sentence. I put it on its most efficient setting to use less energy and time," Heero said blandly, then turned to modify one of the spare chips to replace the burnt out one in the laptop.  
  
Mr. Voltick couldn't believe how arrogant this guy was, but upon examination of the perfectly toasted bread, he was forced to hire Heero. Slick was even kind enough to give Heero a place to stay until he had earned enough money to afford his own apartment. Heero had already decided he had imposed too much on Duo.  
  
  
  
Heero worked hard and long hours for his boss. He repaired everything that crossed his workbench in record time--and usually made them even more efficient too. It didn't take a long time for the little repair shops' reputation to spread and people to take more and more complicated electronics to the little store. If Heero knew how to have fun, he would have been having the time of his life as the boring routine of life was shattered for him with the exotic problems he was able to creatively solve.   
  
After a couple weeks had past, Heero waited for Mr. Voltick to give him his paycheck, which by Heero's reckoning should have been rather large. Heero even took advantage of the fact he lived in the storeroom to work late in the night on the rush jobs--jobs that gave more money to Slick's wallet. Heero spoke up about his pay when his boss came to the back to get some more repair request slips.  
  
"What do you mean? You're whining about not getting paid? You're lucky I let you keep working for me," Slick said after overcoming obvious shock. "Do you know how many complaints I've had about things not working the same after they had been repaired here by _you_? I run a respectable shop and I will NOT have that ruined. I am the one doing all the repairs here--not you. Your work is joke and you waste parts when you aren't stealing them from me. PLUS... whatever you have earned is taken by the rent you pay to live in the back there."  
  
The thought-to-be emotionless Heero was becoming furious. First off--he had NOT whined--he didn't even know how. Secondly, Mr. Voltick was lucky Heero was working for him, not the other way around--in fact just about everything but the rent was the other way around. Not only had Heero made everything run more efficiently, he had done the repairs efficiently and had even fixed the fried part so he didn't have to use the ones he was supposed to use to fix them. Sure, he did take a few of the spare chips, fixed them up and installed them in his laptop to improve that--but he used his laptop to diagnose most of the problems instead of Slick's crapped up equipment.  
  
However, there was nothing Heero could do. There was now way he could disprove the charges and since the payment for rent and the paying wages had never been worked out in a written agreement between the two of them... Heero was stuck, and pounding the idiosyncratic biped in front of him would not have helped him land his _next_ job. So, while Mr. Voltick ranted on and on about how fortunate Heero was to work of him, Heero began to plot what alternative course of action he could take; plans that didn't involve hacking into Slick's bank accounts and draining away all the money... yet.  
  
  
  
Later that night, Heero left the store, taking his laptop with him, and went to look for a part time job to work in addition to his full time job at the repair shop. Heero walked into the first place he saw that had a sign desperately begging for a part-time, night-shift employee. It wasn't until after Heero had entered that he thought it a good idea to find out what establishment he had walked into. So after backing back up, reading the sign, then entering again, Heero approached the librarian's desk, filled out a form.  
  
The head librarian didn't even notice Heero until he banged a book on the desk and glared at everyone. Immediately the library volume went from the same on the street to as quiet as a funeral parlor. It was no surprise that Heero was immediately hired.  
  
  
  
Heero worked both jobs for several weeks. Oh, he would get yelled at regularly by Slick to spend more time working on the appliances but Heero just explained he had another job and that Heero wasn't required to spend every waking moment as Slick's slave since slavery was illegal. Slick would yell that Heero should be grateful for the opportunity Slick was giving him. Heero would then turn that statement around and tell Slick about being grateful.   
  
This would happen about every other day or so, until one day when a customer came in during the "discussion." This customer just happened to be the clerk from the police academy. Well, Slick greeted his customer, who was there to pick up a clock his wife had dropped off. Slick yelled to Heero in the back to bring out the clock and when Heero brought it up to explain how he hadn't quiet finished with it but if had twenty minutes it would be done.  
  
Slick grumbled a little on how this was such an embarrassment and how incompetent Heero was as "an assistant." Then Slick offered to let the clerk look around while Heero finished up. Well, Mr. Police-Clerk meandered into the back and took a good long look at Heero, "Hey, aren't you that Gundam pilot that came into the academy a while a go?"  
  
"Maybe. Why?"  
  
"Just wondering... so you can fix a clock just as well as you can shoot a gun?"  
  
"Yup," and Heero reached over to grab a soldering iron. "I was trained for both as far back as I can remember."  
  
"You were trained to fix clocks?"  
  
"No, mechanical and electrical equipment. It all runs on the same principal," he put his iron up and looked at the clocks on the wall--they all read a different time. "Do you have the time?"  
  
"Oh yeah... it's 9:02."  
  
"Crud," Heero said and handed over the now fixed clock. "It just needs to be wound." Heero grabbed his computer bag and began to run out the back door, but Slick yelled back at him.  
  
"Where are you going? You still have work to finish."  
  
"I'm going to my other job. I'll finish this when I return from it."  
  
"If you go, you won't have a job to come back here to--or a place to stay."  
  
Heero didn't even take the time to blink an eye before grabbing all his gear, shoving it into a small duffel bag, taking some of the extra chips, wires, and other random pieces, and his computer. "Fine, I'm leaving then."  
  
"No you're not," Slick said, and then seemed to just realize what type of uniform the clerk wore under his overcoat. "Officer, arrest him. He's stealing _my_ supplies. You just saw him put those pieces in his bag."  
  
"I'm not stealing; I'm taking what is mine. Since you haven't paid me at all for the work I have done for you, I'm taking these as payment," Heero said, picking up his gun. "Or would you rather I take the cash in safe?"  
  
"You couldn't get into that safe," Slick said, darting his eyes from Heero, to the gun, to the safe, to the officer, back to the gun, and then Heero once more. "And I won't open it for you."  
  
"I don't need you to open the safe--the combination's 20-2-12--and I doubt the clerk will help you either, considering he's seen how fast and well I use this," Heero said, as he placed the safety lock on the gun and secured it in his bag. "Plus the fact I haven't been paid at all in the three and a half months I have worked here is practically a basis for him to arrest you. Oh, and I quit."  
  
  
  
Heero clocked in at the library and stashed his bag in the back before heading to the front. He stopped in the head librarian's office to apologize for being late, inform her he is now able to work more hours, and pick up his paycheck.  
  
"I'm sorry, Heero," Mrs. Howderson said as she handed the check to him, "but you can no longer work here."  
  
"Why not?" Heero's voice held a hint of surprise. "I'm only an hour late--and I am no longer working the job which made me late."  
  
"It's not... well, not just that, but you do have to admit being late for the past week and a half doesn't help your case," the librarian said, coming around her desk to sit on the front of it. "You see, you have too many over due books, but it isn't just that. It's also the content of the books, too."  
  
"Over due books?"  
  
"Yes... we just did a quarterly review and... well, you have well over 55 books overdue just for the past year. For two years... here's the list of all the books," she said, handing him a stack of print outs at least a eighth of an inch thick... and with 10 books listed on a print-out side... and the papers being printed back to back...  
  
Heero grabbed his bag and began reading the list as he left. He'd have to remember to send some of Slick's money over to cover these fines. It was only fair.  
  
As Heero read through the list, he began noticing a pattern... and he didn't remember checking out any of those books. Finally it clicked. "Duo..." he growled as he crumpled the page he was reading. Heero just decided that while he was off job hunting again he would move back in with Duo... It was only fair.  
***************************************  
  
Okay--time for my closing message to you--the reader! Thanx so much for waiting for this--and Kaen-chan and Sailor Silver Moon (my beta whose job it is to stay on top of this stuff) for making me keep writing. Oh--  
  
  
  
Okay, well, now I'm off to work on college applications, calculus homework, and creative writing--not to mention trying to get a head start on my physics stuff so later!  
  
Axisor :þ 


	3. Chapter 3

1 Job Hunt—Part 3  
  
By: Axisor  
  
Okay, here it is. The next, long awaited chapter of Job Hunt. Heero is now in the fast-food biz. Hope you like it. Thank you Q and Sil for the muse meeting I wrote this in and, in a twisted way, thank you Birdie and Marty for messing up my life in such a way I felt compelled to get on-line and have this muse meeting with Q and Sil.  
  
*****************************  
  
Heero applied to both McDonalds and Burger King--two "restaurant" chains that never seemed to be destroyed. They were built so quickly it was as if when a mobile stepped on one it, the building re-grew in a week. Anyway-- Heero applied to both. After all--how could he be hired for both? If he were, he would just take the higher-paying job.  
  
Unfortunately, the starting salary for both was the same and both were desperate for employees--hence the "Help Wanted" signs were in the windows of both establishments.  
  
Well, Heero needed the money because he was desperate to move out of Duo's house again--especially with Hilde having started a pattern of coming over more often while Heero had moved out. So, Heero decided to take both of them--after all, how hard could it be? All he would have to say is, "May I take your order?" and "Would you like fries with that?" It was the same dialogue for both of them.  
  
He started at McDonald's first. Put on his uniform polo that was a _little_ tight, and was trained for fries. He'd have to work his way up to register. When he found out that promotions meant more money and that promotions came faster with being employee of the month, he decided he would fry the best darn fries he could. It would be his _mission_.  
  
After he worked 6 hours there, Heero went over to the Burger King on the other side of the parking lot... where his uniform was a little looser and he was in charge of--surprise-surprise--fries and the employee of the month, again, became his mission.  
  
Well, Heero somehow managed to last a week of successfully frying fries and not having his schedules overlap. Both places were pleased with his competence and decided he could work more hours. The additional hours didn't _quite_ overlap with each other so Heero use his half-hour lunch break to run to the other place and start his work there. He would either stripping off his Burger King polo or pulling it back on over his head, depending on which job he was going to.  
  
By some miracle, Heero managed to successfully last a month, was employee of the month both places, and was promoted in both places to burger maker. Now this was a bit tricky because the burgers of the two weren't the same so he had to memorize what went on what by the names.  
  
Well, deciding attack plans had to be more complicated than remembering whether lettuce went on this-thing or that-thing, Heero put off memorizing his facts in the hopes of getting the taste of grease out of his mouth and somehow the grease he knew _had_ to be in his hair somewhere after the endless hours of standing over the grease vats. He quickly reviewed his items just before his Burger-Tests and managed to pass both of them. He was now an official burger-maker, just one step away from the coveted position of Registeer.  
  
One day while he was making a "quarter-pounder with cheese--hold the cheese, please" just as it had been ordered, the manager came out and made the coughing and sneezing register worker go home. Wouldn't you know that just as soon as this worker was sent home, everyone would decide to have a mid-afternoon burger? The manager was drafted to the role of order-taker but he and the other lone worker on the frontlines we're not enough to man the registers.  
  
Well, the manager knew of the fine work Heero was doing and told him, "Kid," kind of funny when you consider Heero was actually a year older than his manager, "now is the time for you to show your true Burger King colors! Get up there and work those machines."  
  
As Heero daringly moved forward to the front, the manager was giving him a pep talk. "I know you can do it. I saw you and _knew_ you were meant to work--no, command--these complicated machines. I could tell you were a button pusher. Now come up here and make us all proud."  
  
Now were the moments Heero waited for--working at the machines meant his pay just took a large jump. He stepped up to the newly opened register and said, "May I take your order?"  
  
"...SMILE!..." the manager whispered at him.  
  
He tried... and found those were the few muscles in his entire body that weren't in good shape.  
  
Then he remembered the lessons Duo had taught him that forced Heero to learn to "fake smile" by dropping his jaw enough his white teeth were just outlined by his lips held in a slight "ah" position. He managed to save his position, and took the order. Now he asked, "Would you like fries with that?" and forced his face back into this "ah" position again.  
  
By the end of his shift, his face ached like he couldn't believe and he even rubbed some muscle-relaxing cream on his cheeks which he got at the convenience store in the middle of the parking lot between the two fast food places.  
  
When he entered McDonald's, he discovered that the register operator _there_ was AWOL and was pulled up from the ranks, much to his silent dismay. As he started taking orders, Heero became flustered as people started asking for Burger King items as he was working and then started asking if people wanted Chicken Nuggets instead of McNuggets; his burger knowledge became crossed.  
  
Well, the manager wasn't pleased and grabbed the busboy and made him switch places with Heero. As he was wiping off a table, a girl came in to get a chocolate milkshake. She looked around while she waited and noticed the guy cleaning the corner both. "Wow..." she said to her friend, "that guy looks a lot like the Burger King worker you were flirting with about and hour ago."  
  
The manager, who was checking on the busboy-register worker, heard the comment and pried the girls into elaborating by using his charming smile. He pointed out Heero's "Employee of the Month" picture up on the wall and asked the girls if that was the person they had seen. They identified him right away, since "Heero" was such an unusual name and they had studied it to match it to his face.  
  
Now, no one likes a double agent in any business, and the fast-food business was no exception, especially with the long rivalry between the two conglomerates.  
  
This manger walked up to him and ordered Heero to tell him if he was working for the enemy, Burger King, or not, having learned Heero's reaction to the word 'enemy.' As expected, Heero didn't deny the truth and was promptly fired.  
  
Heero collected his paycheck, returned his polo, and left, going back over to Burger King to see if he could cash in on the overtime the manager over there had promised him. Unfortunately Heero realized when he arrived the similarity between the manager over here to the one over there.... They were brothers.  
  
Heero knew he was doomed. Now he wasn't just caught between business rivalry, but family loyalties too... Before he could get anything out, the BK manager was off the phone and glaring at Heero. He simply pointed to his office and Heero almost meekly followed him in.  
  
After turning in his work shirt there and collecting his stuff, Heero turned to leave. A woman, who had been admiring the way the light worked off his face on his "Employee of the Month" Polaroid, stepped in front of him.  
  
This action caused him to step into her and forced her to drop her camera. Heero bent down to collect the pieces, giving the woman a good look at his strong back muscles with his green tank top on, and insisted on repairing it.  
  
As the woman brushed off the offer saying she knew people who could do it somehow ended up leading Heero over to her car. She didn't realize he had already been using his pocketknife to begin fixing it and returned it to her before she could even explain her intentions for stepping in front of him.  
  
Heero seems to balk at this offer but he did need the job. "I promise the pay is good. Just come by... you will be... compensated for your time." Then this mysterious woman drove off.  
  
Heero looked down at the card in his hand and decided, _Why not?_ He would have to ask Duo what "PlayGirl" magazine was later, but at least tonight, Heero had the house to himself so he had time to get ready for his camera repair job tomorrow.  
  
**********************************  
  
Well, I hope that was worth the wait. I was working on a contest entry so that's why I didn't work on this story. Sorry—and the next fanfiction posting will be RK:Junior Retreat. I SWEAR I will have it to my beta- reader Sil by the 8th of February.  
  
Well, Please review for me and suggestions are well welcomed (he-he—totally intentional word play there). I still haven't figured out where Heero's going to end up at--not that I think you all will complain about it running for a while with as short as the "chapters" are.  
  
Axisor  
  
:þ  
  
oh and check out this story:  
  
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=547263  
  
really really good—and I'm the betareader for it!  
  
It's by Silver Dragonfly and is a SM/GW crossover with fantasy and dragons and... kami-sama I love it! (and another link to the story—"Dragons Dream" is conveniently located under my favorite stories)  
  
Axisor  
  
:þ 


	4. Chapter 4

Job Hunt

Part 4

By: Axisor

REALLY REALLY sorry about how long this has taken but it is WELL worth the wait. I'm only going to stall enough to say I only own the original characters. 

*******************************************

The next day, Heero woke up early, about 03:00, in order to get ready for his job interview. He made sure he showered, shaved, and dressed in something _other_ than his famous black jeans and green tank top—he put on black dress pants and a green tuck-in polo. He tried combing out his hair, which actually decided to cooperate, a little. Then he ingested some breakfast, stretched out a little and brushed his teeth before heading out the door.

At the bus stop, Heero mentally reviewed his "mission guide" on the best way to get to the building with the local Playgirl offices. Synchronizing his watch with the time of his first bus, Heero sat back and waited for when he had to get off that bus and on another, naïvely expecting the buses to run on time. Needless to say, with the twelve transfers he _thought_ he could make on time, he was a _little_ frazzled and on the verge of declaring "mission failure" as one bus after another developed unexpected problems, upsetting his schedule.

When he finally did arrive at the site of his potential future employment, Heero was running behind his schedule. He had expected to arrive at 7:17, which would have given him plenty of time to survey the building for the details that the floor plan couldn't tell him—namely, what type of magazine this company published.

He would have checked the colony mainframe for information, but some renegade truck crashed into the junction box for his sector's phone-lines. Then when he tried to use his other modem, the digital cellular service device decided not to cooperate with Heero, to the point he had to open a window to let the smoke out.

He had tried to check with Duo on his way out the door that morning when Duo was coming back in from his date. All the ever-helpful Duo said when informed of the interview at Playgirl was that "It's a magazine for chicks." At that point Heero knew it was pointless to even try to get more; Duo was running on a negative amount of energy.

So, all that was left for Heero to do was to speculate. Maybe it was a magazine for actresses and contained information on improving their stage performances. Playgirl could also be some magazine about and for young women in sports or possibly just some teen magazine, though there was potential in the title for it to be music related too. 

At 8:35, he entered the lobby of the building and "casually" glanced around. It was a stark bare place with gray marble floors, walls, and pillars. Off to the side of the door was the security officer's desk with the elevator next to that. Straight ahead was a tall secretary's desk, including the secretary filing her nails.

Heero quietly approached the secretary, with an effort to make some noise so she wouldn't yell when he suddenly appeared beneath her. When he cleared his throat and was about to speak, she held out her hand, examined her work, and said in a very nasal voice between chomps of gum, "Yeah—what can I do for you, dearie? Phone? You need to talk to the guard. Bathroom? We don't have one for the public. You'll have to go to the gas station down the street."

"No, ma'am. I need you to direct me to Ms. Cardié's office for my 8:30 job interview."

The wheels turned in the snotty secretary's head as she processed the name and the type of people Ms. Cardié normally hired. The secretary glanced down over her desk and with a *POP!* of her bubble gum, her whole attitude changed. She sat up and kept her eyes on the piece of meat below her desktop.

"Hel-lo. How can _I _help you? Interview, right? _I_ just need your address and phone number... oh, and your name might be useful too." Then she gave him this huge smile that practically *TING!*-ed.

Heero, the sweet, innocent, little killing machine that he is, wasn't naïve enough to miss the secretary's sudden personality change. He only obtained, not exchanged, information with this woman. Her attempts at interrogation were admirable... for an amateur. Her lack of expertise, however, only led to making him even later for his interview. Instead of waiting and taking the elevator, he ran up the stairs to the 20th floor and down to the office at the end of the hall.

He took a moment to straighten his appearance before taking a deep breath to steel his nerves and opened the door. The secretary in this room was just getting off the phone with the one from the main lobby. "Thanks Jeanine. I'll tell her he's on his way up—but why did he take the stairs?"

"Because it was faster. Ms. Cardié's 8:30 is here." Heero had entered silently and taken one of the chairs by the door without this secretary seeing him, which was obvious from the shocked look on her face when he spoke.

"He's here, Jean... Yes, already. I'll call you back in a bit. Thanks hun." Then Ms. Cardié's secretary informed her boss of Heero's arrival, and he was sent right in.

After an exchange of greetings, Heero simply stated, "I understand if you decide to hold my tardiness against me during the decision process, however there were delays which did not want to be avoided."

She laughed and smiled and said, "Oh, don't worry. It won't. You aren't that late—only about 10 minutes. Let me guess, car trouble?"

Heero smirked slightly and said, "Something like that." Something along the lines of missing almost all of his transfers and having one bus break down during his commute requiring him to repair it as quickly and neatly as possible. Yeah, it was something like car troubles.

Heero handed Ms. Cardié his résumé and stood in front of her while she looked it over. "Hm.... it says here that you have some military experience... what does 'Maxwell Scrap-Heaps—Accountant and General Employee' mean?"

"I worked at Maxwell Scrap-Heap for the stated amount of time in the position of being Duo's only real hired help, ma'am. I kept his record books in order as well as repaired as much of the broken electronics we could sell." Heero hoped he wasn't talking too much. The one important skill he never could master was his people skills.

"I see...." she said, not quite seeing the relevance of this reference and moved on in the résumé. "Hm... can you explain this? You have 'Slick Fix-it Shop' listed here under work experience, but no references listed associated with that work."

Heero had hoped she wouldn't have asked about that. He had all sorts of references, ranging from Quatre to Lady Une to Duo to the librarian. He was impressed that she realized none of those listed connected with that little place. "Mr. Voltick and I... did not get along well, which led to the end of that job."

"Oh... what happened?"

"He refused to pay me for the repair work that he hired me to do and then accused me of stealing from him when our business arrangement ended, ma'am." The barest hint of a smile came to Heero's face, which made Ms. Cardié's wish to hire him double, at least. "The customer who was present at that time, a police officer, found Slick's accusation unfounded."

"Okay, and can you elaborate on your military experience?" she asked as she jotted down a few notes and then looked back up at him. She smiled when his mask slipped and his face acquired a surreal quality to it that few drawings or pictures could capture.

"I cannot tell you much. Most of it will be classified until my... unit's grandchildren need evidence of what their grandfathers' did." Silently Heero patted himself on the back. If the romantic paintings on the wall of this office reflected the interviewer's feelings, he just grabbed some points for his side of the competition. "What I can tell you is that I was very involved with the machines of the war, repairing, dissembling, and studying the electronics of all types of mobile suits as well as being a perfect soldier and a skilled computer programmer."

"A _perfect_ soldier?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "So you would say you were a _model_ soldier for the other troops to look to?" When she didn't perceive any reaction to her little joke, she became suspicious.

__

*Does he not have a sense of humor, or does he honestly not think he's here for a modeling position? If so... what type of job does he think he's here for?*

Just then, her answer came when Heero's phone rang and he quickly whipped it out to almost snap, "DUO! Why are you calling me? I'm in the middle of my interview."

"I just woke up 'cause it just sunk in. Heero-man, did I hear you right? Are you _seriously_ interviewing at _Playgirl_? Do you know what kind of magazine that is?"

"Duo—if I did, do you think I would have asked you what it was?" Heero stated, matter-of-factly. "You said it was a magazine for women. Thank you for that bit of information, but I've realized it doesn't matter too much since I'm interviewing for a position in camera repair, not a reporter."

__

*Camera repair? Well that explains all the repair references he had, but where did he get that idea from? What was it that I said to him in the parking lot?* She racked her brains for a moment and came up as close to the version of her recruiting speech as she could.

~Hm... Well, Heero, right? Yes, Heero, I happen to be in charge of hiring qualified people to work at Playgirl Magazine's photo department. I can tell you that it has been a nice jump-start to many well-known people's careers. We're always looking for fresh new talent, and from what I've seen so far from you.... If your reality is as good as your potential, you'll surpass those people.~

*_Well.... I never did come out and say it was a modeling job... did I? He hadn't a clue that I was referring to his stunning physique, not his repairing technique. Guess I need to hire him for camera-repair until I can get around this snag...*_

"Heeeero.... come on! You gotta do it for me," Ms. Cardié's thoughts were interrupted by Duo's loud yelling. "It's Hilde and me's 5 and 5/9 year anniversary of when I first yelled at her on that colony. Please—I'm begging you...."

"Fine—I'll watch the Heap for you so you can spend the weekend with Hilde. Maybe I can find some useful stuff in the junk piles to repair my modem. I'll see you when I get home. Bye Duo." Heero said, turning to close his mobile vid-phone. The quick eyes of Ms. Cardié spotted Duo's pleasing face and made a note to actively pursue... er investigate that reference. 

"Heero, would you like to take a seat?" Once he was seated, Ms. Cardié asked him questions randomly from all over a spectrum ranging from camera parts to general equipment repair to his résumé. While he answered, she typed away notes to other branches of the magazine and looked up the answers that she didn't remember completely. This wasn't the first time she had used the security cameras as a way to record interviews. After enough time passed so Heero was catching himself from slipping into his old interrogation routine, the interview was over and they were shaking hands over Ms. Cardié's desk.

"Well, you certainly sound like the perfect person for repairing our equipment. If there's nothing more that _we_ need to know, I'll have my people draw up a contract to ensure you are paid fairly. Then my secretary will call you at this number to arrange for it to be signed." She tried to use her best smile as she led him over to the door.

__

*Well—it's now or never...* "Out of curiosity, Heero. Have you ever done any modeling? You're bone structure is excellent and you obviously keep your body in perfect condition."

Heero stood silently for a few minutes in the doorway. Just before Ms. Cardié began biting her lip like her secretary was doing, he answered. "I've never considered it before. There might be a chance I might one-day model if there was an offer. However, during my military career, there were missions that ended for me with the enemy believing I was dead, and if I suddenly resurface that might jeopardize on-going missions. I would need to contact my sup—my former superiors for proper authorization."

"That's good, because I'm sure you do realize that we won't always have equipment for you to repair." He nodded and she gave him the most innocent smile she could, "I was wondering, Heero... How would you feel about doubling as an ad model on the side—assuming you're allowed to?" She hastily added and began to nervously rub her fingers on the opposite side of the door.

"I'm not sure. It would depend on the conditions and circumstances. Anyway, it shouldn't be an issue right away," he stated simply and shrugged.

She thanked him for his honesty and told her secretary to give Heero a tour while she returned to her office to think.

__

*Ah... that face—and body! A combination like that will sell a lot of magazines—and merchandise... but drawing him out to get him to pose.... that's going to take a lot of clever maneuvering... and manipulation. Working around that military part will be tricky too.... Hm.... I wonder if I can get some of the higher-ups to consider making a special "Salute to Soldiers_" issue....*_

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Okay—the moment of truth: Do you want me to continue with the Job Hunt's or do you want me to work on RK: Junior Retreat? Please tell me in the reviews—thanx so much and I promise whichever you decide won't take nearly as long to get out to you.

Thanx all who helped!

Axisor

:þ


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